The System?

Ant-Man is an uncommonly funny and exciting chapter to the MCU, brought in at pretty much the right time. Paul Rudd brings a believable character to life and his side supporting cast do their jobs perfectly. In Doomsday, it looks like Scott Lang is the senior Avenger in the group, already defeating Kang, Thanos and time travel. This movie was originally supposed to be directed by Edgar Wright. He had a concept reel that he showed at San Diego Comic-Con one year. Unfortunately, studio politics and creative freedoms got in the way and it ended up being directed by Peyton Reed (who did a great job). Oh, and the posters on top and bottom of this post are fake, ones I found online around the time this movie was getting released. The idea of super-hero shrinking and the x-rated things movie makers can do with this is weird and disturbing...

I really enjoy the films of Edgar Wright. To be honest with you, I didn’t spend a lot of time with his “Cornetto Trilogy” but did watch both Shawn of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. I primarily heard of him originally because he was in the Kevin Smith diary book – one of my favorite books of all time. The movies I do love include Scott Pilgrim (one of my top ten movies), Last Night in SOHO, Baby Driver and the new Running Man. These movies are brilliant and one section of film or point of view can tell a whole story. The credits do still show Edgar Wright as writing the film along with Joe Cornish. To me, Cornish is legendary because of his film (and directorial debut) Attack the Block with a future Star Wars star and a Doctor Who. Love that movie.

There were some great posters for this movie, playing on the fact that Ant-Man is the size of an ant and can fit conveniently on the Avengers’ weapons and armor.

• 1989: The Triskelion, still being built. SHIELD is still around, but infiltrated quite efficiently by HYDRA at this time. We know this because of Mitchell Carson (we find out he works for HYDRA later in the movie). There’s an older Peggy Carter and a not-dead Howard Stark, the founders of SHIELD back in WWII. We also see a Streets of San Francisco-era Michael Douglas as Hank Pym. He’s yelling at Carson for trying to replicate his Pym Particles, a major breakthrough in espionage technology. Carson says something about Pym’s wife and gets his nose broken. Pym quits and SHIELD wisely chooses not to make an enemy out of him. In the comics, Hank Pym has a notorious temper and in some incarnations, beat his wife. Luckily, they don’t do that here. Comic book version of Hank also built Ultron
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Our hero, Scott Lang, is getting out of San Quentin prison for burglarizing and hacking his former employer after whistle-blowing unsuccessfully. Plus, he drove his boss’ Bentley into a swimming pool. The viral WHIH videos told the entire story before the movie came out but Director Peyton Reed still tells you what happened as the movie goes along. After a traditional punch for punch fight with a guy named Peachy, Scott is picked up by his former cellmate in a 1972 Ford Econoline van, a vehicle that would serve Scott for the next several years. You can tell immediately that Luis is the comedic relief and is a highlight for these movies. This is the first MCU movie to take place in San Francisco, not New York
  
  
  
  
  
• We find out that Scott has a Master’s in Electrical Engineering and should have no problems finding a job despite being an ex-con. Fast-forward a few months, Scott’s working at Baskin-Robbins in San Francisco, CA, under the pseudonym Jack. There are at least three locations in San Francisco. After dealing with an idiot customer who wants something hot at an ice cream store, he gets called into his boss’ office. They found out who Scott was and had to fire him. The main quote is “Baskin-Robbins always finds out.” The main thing BR is trying to hock is a Mango Fruit Blast. It’s no longer offered at BR but there are alternatives. Scott takes one for his walk home. By the way, there's a great Reddit thread dealing with the food in the MCU!
  
  
  
  
  
  
• His home is the Milgrom Hotel (where he passes posters for Pingo Doce Guarana Soda). The Hotel is named after a Marvel writer and artist. Scott lives with Luis there with an active Rave Club in the apartment below. He’s introduced to Luis’ criminal friends (who will later become his best friends and business partners) and eats waffles. The first is Kurt, played by brilliant character actor David Dastmalchian (who was in James Gunn’s Suicide Squad and played Murdock on the new MacGyver) as a computer tech expert. The second is Dave, played by rapper T.I. who’s a getaway driver. These guys are the best and the three are the best comic relief in any film. The best lines. They want to convince Scott to do a job with them but he refuses, saying he’s going straight
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
• Pym Technology. The company Hank Pym created after leaving SHIELD, evidently making him a rich man. He drives a Triumph Spitfire Convertible that looks like it’s seen better days. We see that Hank’s got a tank on his keychain (something we get back to later on). He’s met by his estranged daughter Hope (played by Lost alum Evangeline Lily with an awful haircut) and Darren Cross (the actor Corey Stoll seemed like he was in everything around this time). Hope is icy and hostile towards her father while Cross, his former protege, is seemingly open and happy
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Cross leads them into his Futures Lab (with a model that says Cross Technology) and starts going on about a legend in the espionage community about a soldier the size of an ant. He shows old SHIELD footage of the Ant-Man, I wonder if he got that off the internet thanks to Black Widow. In my research, I found out that the same tank in the video is the same one Hank carries with him on a keychain! Ever since starting with Pym Tech, he’s been chasing after the Pym Particle, something that can shrink somebody down to ant-size. We know that Hank Pym was Ant-Man and working for SHIELD decades ago. Well, Cross has had a breakthrough and introduces The Yellowjacket suit. I remember at the time the filmmakers saying that the Yellowjacket was if Apple or an IPod made a Marvel superhero suit
  
  
  
  
  
• The Yellowjacket looks more aggressive than Ant-Man, complete with more arms and lasers. If purchased, you can use the suit to conduct espionage, assassinations, whatever you want. It’s obvious by the look on her face that Hope didn’t know about this and Hank is horrified. An older Mitchell Carson is there and wants to buy a suit next week, he’s there on behalf of HYDRA. Judging by Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Agents of SHIELD, he probably was with HYDRA from the beginning while being a SHIELD leader, a double agent
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Hope has secretly been working with Hank in order to stop Cross from developing his own Pym Particles and selling the technology to the highest bidder. To let this tech out in the world invites chaos. We learn that Cross really hates Hank and took over his company with the help of Hope (before they got back together). Cross is going insane and shoots a dissenting employee with his version of Pym Particles, turning the man into goo on the bathroom floor. It’s not ready for human subjects yet; there’s no body, Cross flushes what’s left. It turns out that his brain has been unprotected from Pym Particles and it’s making him insane
  
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• One thing I noticed about Michael Douglas' character Hank Pym is that he always has his "hearing aids" in, but I they're his ant-controlling devices. Meaning he always has them on!
  
  
  
  
  
• Scott is at his daughter’s birthday party (which he wasn’t invited to). Her name is Cassie and she will eventually be played by 3 different actresses. Little Abby Ryder Fortson (I guess Marvel didn’t want to wait until she grows up) plays Cassie for the next two movies and will be replaced by adults like Katherine Newton. Yes, Scott has a little girl that he missed out on while in prison. Unfortunately, Scott’s whole thing is losing time with his daughter. He lost time with her as a little girl because he went to prison. Then lost 5 years with her because of the Quantum Realm. We meet his ex-wife Maggie (played by the lovely Judy Greer) and her boyfriend Paxton (Bobby Canavale) who is a SF cop. Scott is adored by his daughter who doesn’t understand the interpersonal relationships of a divorced family. He brings her a present, an ugly bunny rabbit (which according to the internet is a vintage toy) that’s voiced by the same guy who did Spongebob Squarepants. It’s her new favorite doll. Paxton and Maggie tell Scott to pay child support and get a job. Until then, he can’t see Cassie. As he’s leaving (this is plot stuff, son) he honks the horn of the van and it plays “La Cucaracha”
  
  

  
  
  
• Knowing it will take forever before he can get enough money to see Cassie, Scott decides to take the easy way out and go back to his life of crime (although I thought he only did the one VistaCorp job). Check out this article about recidivism rates with ex-cons. He asks Luis and the guys for details. In the most unique and incredible MCU sequences, Luis tells his story…
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• In short, they’re going to rob Hank Pym’s house because Hank Pym set them up to do so. The quartet gets together all the necessary materials in order to break into the house. I like Hank’s typical San Francisco house (like from Full House) ; it's a Victorian Gingerbread house. It’s actually located on Buena Vista Avenue in the Haight District. but probably doesn’t have all the cool underground passages. Finally, they’re ready to go and Scott is cocky
  
  
  
  
  
• Scott goes all acrobatic (something that will serve him well as Ant-Man) and makes his way into the house. He takes Hank’s keys (with the tank again) and gets into the basement area. There’s a fingerprint scanner among other things and goes all CSI/MacGyver to get past various security features. He's an improvisor. There’s no such thing as a Carbondale safe made out of Titanic-grade steel (technically, the safe was made in 1910 and the Titanic sunk in 1912) and apparently the cold thing doesn't work in real life, but the principle's sound enough for a Marvel movie. There’s nothing inside but an old motorcycle suit. For some reason, Scott takes it and they make their getaway while Hank watches from underground
  
  
• While Scott is electronically testing the mysterious suit, Cross is experimenting his Particles on sheep. Still turns them into goo, Hope is horrified
  
  
• Scott puts on the suit, hits a button sewn into the gloves and SHRINKS!!!! He ends up tiny in the bathtub when Luis comes in and runs the water. Evidently, Scott is still the same weight because he fractures a tile on the floor, skips a record at the Rave and punctures a vacuum cleaner bag. Physics I guess. Scott ends up on the roof of the car of original SNL star Garrett Morris (who actually played Ant-Man in a sketch). Hank Pym, via radio, tells him to standby
  
  
  
  
  
• Spooked, Scott breaks back into Hank’s house, Hope calls the cops and Scott is arrested! Regardless of conflict of interest, Paxton and his partner (an actor who played a killer named Pony on Numb3rs). Hank Pym comes to visit him in jail disguised as his lawyer and offers him a choice: either go back to prison OR break out of jail and come work for Hank who will give Scott what he needs to get his daughter back (they never specify how this will happen as a wanted fugitive from justice)
  
  
  
  
  
• Scott says yes and ants deliver him the Ant-Man suit, Scott shrinks and flies away on another ant, past the police who are looking for him. On the way to Hank’s house, Scott passes by a newspaper with a Sokovia headline (from Age of Ultron). Hank references that too
  
  
• Scott wakes up with Hope nonchalantly texting on her phone. She mentions there are tropical bullet ants on the floor that have a one on the Schmidt Pain Index. The index is a real thing and seems awful
  
  
  
  
  
• Tropical bullet ants also exist but are only in Central and South America in the rainforests. Google says they have the most painful insect sting in the world, like being shot with a gun. Scott steps around them to get downstairs
  
  
• Hank explains the situation with Darren Cross and Pym Particles. Scott suggests they call the Avengers but Hank won’t have it. He’s already dealt with Howard Stark at SHIELD and doesn’t want to deal with another Stark. At the same time as this important conversation, Cross gets a breakthrough and ends up shrinking a sheep; the Pyms and Scott have to move their plans up
  
  
• Why Scott? Because of his relationship with his daughter. When Janet Pym, Hope’s mother died, Hank basically cut off all contact with her and had a negative relationship with her. Scott got divorced and is in danger of losing his daughter as well. Hope says she can do the mission but Hank refuses. And Hank is unable to shrink again due to using Pym Particles for years. We also learn about VistaCorp Security Systems, an insurance automation company that Scott used to work for. I’m not sure how pulling off a heist while wanted will help Scott get his daughter back and clean up his act. He’s going to break “into a place and stealing some shit”
  
  
• Training to be Ant-Man, shrinking before going through a keyhole is tough work. Luckily, Scott is naturally acrobatic and seems to pick things up eventually. He also learns to fight with Hope, showing him some Black Widow-level moves and punching hard. Also, Paul Rudd is jacked. Rule Number one is don’t mess with the regulator: we don’t want to shrink down to the sub-atomic level and enter the Quantum Realm! Scott is also armed with Pym Particle discs to make things enlarge and shrink upon contact (he couldn’t give the guy lasers like he does with his daughter?)
  
  
• We also learn the names of ants (no latin for me though):
  
  
  
  
  
• Crazy Ants: These guys also exist in real life and are attracted to electrical equipment but I’m not sure they actually conduct electricity. I’m no myremcologist
  
  
• Carpenter Ants: They like wood and some do fly. Scott names his main flying ant, “Ant-ony”
  
  
• Fire Ants: They are architects that build stuff!
  
  
• In theory, Hope would be the ideal person for this job; she’s been training all her life. She got into martial arts as a kid and can control ants. One would presume she knows how Pym Particles work and can shrink and do all that fun stuff that both Ant-Men can do. Why not choose her? Because Scott is expendable!
  
  
• During all this, Paxton and his partner find out that the “lawyer” was actually Hank Pym. Some surveillance on his house would easily find out that Scott is staying there and the story would end right then and there. But the info is sat on until later
  
  
• Let’s learn about the original Wasp, Janet Van Dyne (not cast as Michelle Pfeiffer yet). This is Hope’s mom and Hank’s presumably deceased wife. She joined Hank on his SHIELD missions. In 1987, separatists took over a Soviet missile site in Kursk. This is a city in Russia, South of Moscow. These separatists launched an ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile) at the United States, a SHIELD problem at the time. Google says this is definitely possible
  
  
  
  
  
  
• They were made out of aluminum and other composites with some pieces made out of titanium. In order to blow up the missiles, Janet had to go sub-atomic into the Quantum Realm to fit. She never came back but did complete her mission. The next Ant-Man does show Janet survived and sorta thrived in the Quantum Realm. This was an emotional breakthrough for Hank and Hope, bringing their relationship closer together despite awkwardness from Scott
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Time for Scott’s final test: a stealth incursion. They need one more piece of equipment for the heist, a signal decoy prototype that Hank made at SHIELD. It’s located in an old Stark warehouse in New York. Unfortunately, Tony made it into the new Avengers HQ! Scott is discovered by Sam Wilson, a new Avenger called The Falcon! The two fight and quip back and forth with each other until Scott wins. It’s really important that Captain America does not find out about the intrusion
  
  
  
  
  
• After all that hubbub, we’re back in the Pym house. It seems that Cross has just walked right into the living room while everybody he’s not supposed to know about is there. Scott rolls up the Cross Industries blueprints presumably before Cross sees them. However, there is no way Cross didn’t see them, and has to know both Scott and Hope are there (don’t worry, we find this out later on). Cross was apparently there originally to kill Hank but invites him to the lab for his triumphal moment. He also calls Hope to tell her to increase security
  
  
• We’re going to need a bigger team. Call in Luis, Dave and Kurt. The comic relief but damn good at their criminal jobs. As I said, these guys make the movie really enjoyable. Hope gets Luis into the system
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Scott shows them the Ant-Man technology and the three freak out about gypsies and sorcerers. Scott visits his daughter in secret one more time, maybe for the final time
  
  
  
  
  
• There’s a big party at Pym Tech (soon to be Cross Tech if Cross gets his way) to celebrate the sale of the Yellowjacket ($15 Billion in sales). Luis starts whistling It’s a Small World while impersonating a security guard (despite being told not to, he's no Andy Griffin) and shows him how hard he punched the inmate called Peachy. Scott arrives in the van with Dave and Kurt, shrinks. With the ants he destroys the necessary computer servers with the formula and plants bombs. Hank Pym shows up but is stopped by the cops for questioning in Scott’s escape. Dave steals Paxton’s car but later accidentally honks the “Cucaracha” horn in the van, alerting him to shenanigans
  
  
  
  
• Heist and planning is shown to perfection, things are going right for our criminals. Well, it turns out everything has been planned by Darren Cross to stop our guys! He knew about everything!! Scott, Pym Particles, Hope, breaking into an Avengers facility! Cross traps a small Scott in glass and gloats. “Did you think you could stop the future with a heist?” A line that has even more relevance in Endgame. Meanwhile, Paxton arrests Kurt and Dave (I guess for car theft\destruction? He doesn’t really have proof)
  
  
  
  
  
• Another thing I realized while watching this is how pissed off Cross must be at Hope. He complains that Hank never let him in, never told him about Pym Particles or Ant-Man. Presumably, Hope has known since she was a kid (or at least knows now) about them but never told her father’s worst enemy about it (even when she was mad at dad), guess she still had some loyalty during that time
  
  
• HYDRA wants to buy a Yellowjacket suit for a ridiculous amount of money. Cross says yes but he alone will keep them supplied with Pym Particles. Scott finds a way out of the glass prison and embiggens, Hope has a gun, Hank gets shot by another gun (but he’s okay). Cross escapes with the prototype Yellowjacket in his briefcase
  
  
  
  
  
• One storyline the MCU has never followed up on is that Mitchell Carson, agent of HYDRA, took a vial of Pym Particles!! There has never been another storyline that shows what HYDRA did with it! It was a potentially world-changing acquisition! NOTHING!!!
  
  
  
  
  
• A small Ant-Man takes on security guards until he’s saved at the last second by Luis. Cross is showing more signs of insanity due to Pym Particles and tries to leave in a helicopter. Ant-Man attacks the helicopter, Cross recklessly fires a gun in order to kill him. More tiny special effects ensure, giving us a closeup look at Lifesavers and a phone
  
  
• Meanwhile, a wounded Hank and Hope are stuck in the vault, but Hank’s not worried. He has that tank on his keychain. Turns out it’s a real tank and just needs to be embiggened!! One thing I have a problem with is that shouldn’t that tank, although miniaturized, be as heavy as a full-sized tank? Oh well. I also wish I had seen this ad when I first bought the movie, I would have loved a keychain!
  
  
  
  
  
• Best scene of the whole movie: a full-sized and working TANK bursts out of Pym Tech, startling everybody. Paxton takes his eyes off of Kurt and Dave who escape with Luis. The Internet tells me this was a Soviet tank, a T-34 Medium Combat Vehicle
  
  
• The tank is from WWII. Despite being tiny then big again, it was able to still be driven out of a vault and building. Hank kept all the systems working and full of diesel fuel. Hope and Hank are saved, and Hank is whisked away to a hospital, presumably with Hope since she’s not seen again until the end
  
  
• On the helicopter, Darren kills Ant-ony and Scott will make him pay for that! Meanwhile, the bombs that Scott planted blew up, but didn't blow up the building. Instead it implodes the building, I presume shrinking until it’s nothing. If Cross knew they were coming and put the correct servers somewhere different in the building, he didn’t expect the whole building to disappear, ruining his business
  
  
  
  
  
• During this fight, Cross puts on the Yellowjacket suit quickly. Not sure how he did that except if the suit opens up like the Iron Man suits in Iron Man 3, kind of modularly. The two fight to the Cure’s Disintegration
  
  
  
  
  
• Thanks to Cross’ built in lasers, the crew of the helicopter is killed and the chopper crashes
  
  
• They end up in somebody’s suburban backyard during a BBQ and table tennis game. One thing that bugged me is that it took Scott weeks to use the Ant-Man tech effectively, yet Darren also uses his suit with the same capabilities (even more) and is able to fight him. Did Darren similarly practice with his suit even though there wasn’t that much time? Is being an insane genius give Cross a leg up on shrink fighting?
  
  
• They fight and Cross ends up in a bug zapper by the pool. A typical bug zapper is about 12,000 to 5,600 volts, more than enough to fry most bugs. I won’t do the math, but that’s probably enough to stun a shrunken man in high-tech armor; more than enough to kill somebody in theory. Paxton and his partner arrive at the house and tase Scott to arrest him. Information on SFPD’s use of tasers has rather ambiguous language. Really, both of our tiny combatants get zapped in one way or the other. On the way to the precinct, a call over the radio says Paxton’s home address where Cassie is! Cross awakened and made his way to Scott’s daughter in order to draw him out. The address is 840 Winter Street. Except there is no such address in SF but is actually on Clemont Street in Atlanta, GA
  
  
• The next shot is in Cassie’s bedroom. She has a Thomas the Tank Engine train playset in her room and looks cozy as hell. However, she’s terrified on the bed with an angry Yellowjacket holding her hostage. Scott gets out of the cop car and into the house to confront Cross. They fight on top of the train track set, using Thomas as weapons and laser target practice. Cassie can only see her train set getting destroyed with lights, seemingly by ants. Scott’s throwing Pym Particles all over, embiggening a random ant (to about the size of a dog) and Thomas the Tank Engine himself
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Thomas the Tank Engine was created in England in 1945 and is currently owned by Mattel. I’m willing to bet they lobbied hard to get that full-sized creation in their warehouse. Imagine getting that phone call telling them to get to San Francisco!|
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Ant-Man history repeats itself and the only way to destroy the Yellowjacket suit (which is made of titanium) is to go sub-atomic and destroy it that way. He does so, making the suit implode in on itself. First the arm disappears in mighty MCU fashion (Empire!) and Darren Cross disappears, seemingly dead. However, we know now that he ended up severely injured and deformed in the Quantum Realm as MODOK. He’s even more insane and ends up as a big head for the third movie
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Scott goes sub-atomic into the Quantum Realm, the one thing Hank told him not to do! In a Kirby-esque kaleidoscope journey, he shrinks more and more. He hears Cassie’s voice and substitutes an enlarge disc and ends up growing out of the Quantum Realm and back into Cassie’s bedroom! Previously dreamed impossible by Hank Pym. During this scene we see a brief image of what looks to be the Wasp in costume. The shadow (or outline) looks like classic Wasp from the Marvel comics, not necessarily what we should see based on the second movie
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We briefly see the giant ant and in a Peter Pan-esque lightbulb sequence, Scott disappears! The heist was successful and all families were brought together!
  
  
• Hank is fine from his gunshot wound, eager to dive back into his work on the Quantum Realm in order to find Janet. It also turns out that Scott and Hope are now in a relationship. Hope apparently rebuilds Pym Technology, using Pym Particles more responsibly in the third Ant-Man. Scott is also off the hook for any legal troubles, Paxton fixed that for him. I love the relationship that Scott and his family develop. They apparently keep the giant ant as a dog - is it the same one who plays drums in the second movie? What do you feed a giant ant?
  
  
  
  
  
• We also know from the next movie that Kurt, Luis, Dave and Scott start their own security business. We get another Luis story montage at the end of the movie. Stan Lee makes an appearance as does Anna Akana, a YouTube star. She plays a journalist, a “stupid fine writer chick.” She mentions Spider-Man ahead of his upcoming appearance in Civil War. She has a conversation with Falcon who’s looking for a dude who can shrink, he wants to meet him. Luis is very pleased by this conversation
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Post Credit Scene #1: Hank shows Hope another hidden concrete underground room (this in the house she freakin grew up in) that has a new prototype Wasp costume. Originally built for Janet, the two of them will work on it as a project
  
  
  
  
  
• Post Credit Scene #2: A scene from Captain America: Civil War!! Bucky looks out of it, his metal arm trapped in some kind of industrial machine. Falcon and Cap discuss the situation, not sure if they trust Tony and the “Accords.” This references the Sokovia Accords (the country from Age of Ultron) also known in comics as the Super Human Registration Act. Falcon says he knows a guy…